Woman Recovers From Suspected Case of Mumps

April 18, 2014

A Belmont County resident who was suspected of contracting the mumps while in Columbus, Ohio, has recovered, according to the Belmont County Health Department.

Health department nurse Lynn Schrum said the woman had been receiving an unrelated medical treatment at Ohio State University Hospital when her glands became swollen. Since an outbreak of the mumps is occurring in that area, her doctors assumed that she contracted it and, by law, had to notify the health department.

"It's done. They are not going to do testing on her - what's happened is done," Schrum said Thursday, adding the public should not be concerned.

According to published reports, there have been 225 cases of the mumps in the Franklin County area. Mumps is a virus that causes fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite, and is followed by swelling of salivary glands, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While outbreaks of the virus are rare because of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, they still do occur in crowded environments, such as college dormitories.

Mumps is spread when an infected person sneezes, coughs or talks and their mucus or saliva sprays into the air or onto surfaces.